12/01/2025
⚡️DOES MY PROPERTY NEED REWIRING?⚡️
How can you tell if your house needs rewiring is a question that comes up quite often at NILEC service. Its not easy to tell if your house needs rewiring as many of your electrical cables will be hidden within walls, under floor boards and in your loft space. However, we’ve put this simple guide together to help you understand if your home might need rewiring and how you might be able to notice it. Not everyone is a trained electrician so is usually quite hard to spot potential wiring issues so at NILEC we offer a house rewire survey to determine if your home needs rewiring and what the costs will be.
THE FIXED WIRING
The wiring and associate cabling in properties has changed significantly over the years, including the fuse board/consumer units they are attached to. These will usually be located under the stairs or somewhere on the ground floor of the property.
Essentially, many houses wired before 1984 didn’t have an earth cable and some used aluminum wire instead of copper. Aluminum cable is more likely to cause a fire in a home more than one that is wired with copper due to aluminum wire running at a much higher temperature than copper wire. The lack of an earth connection in the cable means you are more susceptible to electrical shocks if there is an overload or surge of power going into your electrical installation. The purpose of an earth cable is to provide a suitable path for the electricity to drain away so you don't get electrocuted.
Determining if your house needs rewiring depends on the age of the property and if there has been any previous work completed on the electrical installation . The best thing to do is have an electrical installation condition report (EICR) completed on your property.
THINGS TO LOOK FOR
Before you start to look at the wiring in your home, the most fundamental aspect is to stay safe. If you don't know anything about electrical work, stop now and call a professional electrician. If you have some knowledge, you can start to check for warning signs but don’t touch anything yourself as there may be a potential hazard.
The first place to look is in the corner of each room. Count the sockets. If there are only one or two, this is a sign that there could be older style wiring in place.
If you’ve ever touched a socket and felt that it’s hot, this could be a sign that there’s overheating going on somewhere. It’s not normal to feel heat or see flashing light from a plug, or smell a strange burning smell.
when looking at your fuse board or consumer unit you may potentially find a sticker with details of the date it was installed or the previous date the property was last tested. However, this could be miss-leading as it might only display the date the fuse board or consumer unit was installed, not that the property has been rewired.
Another way to tell if your house needs rewiring is to have a look at any socket outlets ,visible wiring and your current fuse board, but only if you feel safe to do so. If the fuse board is mounted onto a wooden pattress , its likely that it dates back to the 1960’s and will need upgrading as there won’t be any earth (CPC) to the cabling currently installed. If any wiring looks old and frayed, it would need upgrading. If any socket outlets that are worn or feel hot when in use or have no isolation switches they should be changed as well.
If you do decide to have you house rewired, think very carefully about where you want electrical socket outlets and light switches etc. It may be you just want to follow the existing layout but you may decide that you need extra sockets/light fittings or can even reduce some of the existing sockets/light fittings. This can be discussed with one of our professional electricians to determine your lifestyle and use of the home. It may also be a good idea to future proof the home in any possible additions that may come along.
EXTRA ITEMS
If you are having a full or partial REWIRE completed on your property it may also be a good idea to think about smoke detection. The alarms that would be installed would be mains voltage and interlinked with one another so all alarms sound simultaneously. The electrician will design a system for you which may include s'moke, heat and even CO2 alarms. You may even think about having some exterior or garden lighting and also an intruder alarm system. The technician will talk you through what will be the best thing for you and your family.
If you are unsure if you need a full or partial REWIRE then you should contact us to give you an electrical installation condition report to check the safety of the property. In completing this test you will find out wether you need a full REWIRE or if only a select few circuits need retiring or just a simple consumer unit upgrade.
What to expect when a property is rewired
Rewiring work can vary. You might just need new sockets and light switches. You might need a full rewire, where all cable is removed and replaced. The latter is a big job that requires plastering and redecoration of where the new cables have been installed.
In preparation, remove all items from the walls of each room. The installation team should provide dust sheets for the furniture and if any heavy items need moving the installation team will be happy to move these for you.
The time it will take to complete the REWIRE depends on the complexity of the install and how many electrical items you are wanting installed, but a full rewire will be completed in approximately 4 -5 days depending upon the size of the property and also if the property is occupied or not. Sometimes patching up or re-plastering is necessary, but this will all be discussed in the planning stage of the job. Some electrical firms will offer this service at an additional cost or may work into the price, others how ever may just pass a contact on for you to arrange the plasterer yourself. This should be agreed at the start of the job to be completed.
UPON COMPLETION
when the full or partial REWIRE is completed the electrical team will provide you with a written or more common today a printed copy of an electrical installation certificate. The contractor will keep a copy and provide you with one to retain for your records. This will also be needed if you are wanting to sell the property in the future as it gives the new buyer peace of mind that the electrical installation is safe and fit for purpose.
This certificate will be registered online with one of a few governing body's (whoever the contractor is registered with) and local building control will be notified on your behalf. If you are unsure if you are using a registered electrician you can do a quick check www.electrcalsafetyregister.com.
All floor boards and carpets and even furniture that has been moved will be replaced and put back where it was found and the whole property shall be hoovered and wiped down from dust. After the team have left there may still be some residual dust in the air which will potentially land on furniture and may require a second wipe down by the home owner.
Talk to one of our qualified professional electricians
Never take on any electrical work yourself as you cannot tell if a cable is live or not. This is why electricians use electrical test equipment that has to be calibrated every year to make sure they gain the correct results and provide a safe install. From a simple repair to a full house rewire, call NILEC to arrange a visit and provide you with a detailed written quote. If you do see old wiring in your property, don’t leave it for another day. Poor wiring can be very dangerous, and you don’t want to be another fire service statistic. It pays to be safe.
